Education commissioner Schundler dismisses U.S. test ranking N.J. at the top in reading, math

Amanda Brown/The Star-LedgerNew Jersey education commissioner Bret Schundler, left, with Gov. Chris Christie. TRENTON -- Good news is always bad news to those who see themselves as "reformers" — no sense reforming what works. So, as state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler begins an effort to change New Jersey schools, he must cope with the bad news of a lot of good news.

Best, or worst, of all are the latest results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, a testing program of the U.S. Department of Education. It shows New Jersey at the top in achievement in reading and math at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels.

While New Jersey’s education officials might be expected to embrace good news, Schundler’s spokesman, Alan Guenther, dismissed the results as "irrelevant.’’

Guenther lumped all of public education together as one "wretched system" that fails students. In an e-mailed response, he wrote:

"The NAEP rankings are irrelevant. We should not take solace in the fact that we score well in a wretched system that fails to adequately teach such a high percentage of children.’’

Not everyone agrees, of course. The assessment program is a widely regarded measure of educational progress and, in the past, critics of New Jersey public schools used a poor showing as the sort of bad news that was good news to reformers.

The usual suspects disagree with the state — the New Jersey Education Association, for example, and David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center. They view New Jersey’s high rankings as unalloyed good news, evidence the state’s school aid formula has worked to improve learning. They are critics of any reform that includes Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed $800 million cut in school aid.

But even a neutral-to-supportive observer insists New Jersey’s high rankings on the NAEP can’t be dismissed as "irrelevant." Nor would he agree the state is just part — albeit a successful part — of one big "wretched system.’’

"I think the data produced by the NAEP are legitimate," says Joseph DePierro, dean of the Seton Hall University College of Education. "While, obviously, it doesn’t capture the whole picture, you’re in real trouble if you discount the data."

The news provided by the NAEP is "legitimately" good news for New Jersey, says DePierro.

"Criticism has a political agenda," says DePierro, who adds that "making broad, sweeping generalizations about a state system is inappropriate."

"New Jersey has some very high-performing districts, as well as low-performing districts," says the Seton Hall educator. The state, like the nation, is not just one "wretched system.’’

Other good news — or bad news — includes a report from the New America Foundation, contending New Jersey leads the way in providing early childhood education. The National Institute for Early Education Research, at Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education, also says New Jersey ranks among the top 10 states for providing early childhood schooling.

He also was asked to respond to what was, for Schundler, really bad news because it was such good news to the critics of one of his most cherished reforms, school choice — including vouchers.

The commissioner, a former Jersey City mayor, is a champion of vouchers, traveling to Milwaukee years ago as a supporter of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, or MPCP, a program of providing students at private schools — including religious schools — with vouchers. An independent evaluation concluded voucher students do no better than those left behind in inner-city public schools, the Milwaukee Public Schools, or MPS.

"We have established that … students in our MPCP and MPS panels are demonstrating achievement gains in reading and math that are generally equivalent," reported the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas.

Guenther changed the subject.

"Other studies have shown, overwhelmingly, that many charter schools are doing a superb job,’’ he wrote. Charter schools are not voucher schools.

Of course, for many, simply the idea of choice is a good thing, even if it doesn’t produce measurable academic progress. For those, even bad news is good news.